Anyone Up for Some Tennis

by Karen

This morning, I received the below email from bet365.com

“We are contacting you to advise that you have funds in your bet365 account. As stated in our Terms and Conditions, your account will be subject to an ongoing administration fee which will be deducted 28 days from now and every 28 days thereafter until your balance reaches zero. No further charges will then be applied. To avoid this fee simply log back into your account and place a bet, make a deposit or withdraw your full balance. Please note, we will need to verify your account before you are able to withdraw. The easiest way to do this is to log into the bet365 website, select Services in the top right corner, click on Members, choose My Account and select Know Your Customer (KYC). If you have forgotten your login details, refer to the Lost Login also in the top right corner of the website. If you have any questions regarding this please see our Terms and Conditions, or alternatively Contact Us to speak with a member of our Customer Service team.”

I have had a bet365 account for going on 10 years. I don’t gamble but I find it to be one of the best ways to watch tennis, especially tennis that is not streamed in the US. It is a very safe site. I was referred to it a few years ago by one of my tennis buddies that I met on the old Tennis World chat room (thanks Cracked Gem).

When I first got this account, I deposited my US$10.00 and it stayed there for months at a time with no problem. Then they started to take administrative fees if they perceive that there is no activity on the account. As you can see, activity has to include betting or topping up your account. I will be topping up my account before the expiration of the 28 days and unfortunately, it seems as if I will have to continue topping up my account every 28 days in order not to lose the benefit of the live streaming on this site.

Why am I writing about this?

We are entering the time of the year when the Tour moves from Europe and settles in North America. There are a great many big tournaments coming up, and while the men’s Tour will have the benefit of TennisTV, the WTA Tour will be languishing in now you see me, now you don’t hell. Fans of the WTA will have to either follow the hot shots from the WTA Twitter handle or log on to illegal streams (if they even exist any more) to try and see the women over the course of this summer.

Unless I missed it, I have not seen any statements issued by the WTA and its missing CEO since he came out defending Sharapova for not getting a WC into the French Open. At some point in time, either Mr. Simon needs to let us know where streaming rights for the sport has reached, or he needs to relinquish what is no doubt a high paying job with lots of benefits. The consumers, i.e. the fans, have become disgruntled and it is affecting how fans see the women’s game. If this were any other industry, surely Mr. Simon would now be out of a job. Surely, someone, somewhere would be held accountable for what can only be described as a debacle in relation to the disappearance of the WTA product from the airwaves.

The USO Series will be starting soon. The tournaments are currently advertising the big names who will be competing in the various tournaments. It makes no sense that they are doing this, when fans far and wide, who absolutely adore the women’s game, are left wondering well how do I get to see so and so play if I can’t pull up a stream. Surely the WTA owes its millions of fans an explanation. Surely the journalists who cover this sport must force Mr. Simon to come to the table and tell the fans the truth about the lack of visibility of the WTA. Surely someone somewhere cares about tennis fans.

I did a recent survey amongst tennis fans and one of the biggest concerns that arose from that survey is the fact that people want to see more tennis on tv. What was even more surprising about that survey is the fact that most people preferred the women’s game over the men and thought the women’s game had better storylines than the men, despite most fans not being able to tell what is the WTA’s current marketing campaign (for what its worth, I have checked the WTA’s website, but I can’t find any evidence of their current marketing campaign).

Women’s tennis is a literal gold mine. It hurts to see people who have been put in power over a product that sells itself, do so much harm to the product. I know that folks like David Kane and Courtney Nguyen have done yeoman’s service to get women’s tennis to the forefront of people’s minds. The WTA has won the social media war as both persons are engaging and have used Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to promote the women’s game. The women themselves have also embraced social media and have added their names to issues that affect women, most especially, Madison Keys’ effort against online bullying.

With all the women doing their best to ensure that the Tour is relevant, and popular, it is even more disheartening when you can’t get to see them at all.

Steve Simon it is time to either put up or get the hell out.

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Published by overheadspin

Tennis fanatic, but mostly women's tennis ... scratch that I am all about women's tennis. House Stark. Loves reading, cooking and frankly love watching tennis. Listens to Alanis Morrisette every chance I get
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